Revisiting OD-stretching dynamics of methanol‑d4, ethanol-d6 and dilute HOD/H2O mixture with predefined potentials and wavelet transform spectra

2022

J. Phys. Chem. A

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We employed density functional theory (DFT)-based molecular dynamics simulations to explore the structure, dynamics, and spectral properties of the protic ionic entity trimethylammonium chloride (TMACl). Structural investigations include calculating the site–site radial distribution functions (RDFs), the distribution of constituent cations and anions in three-dimensional space, and combined distribution functions of the hydrogen-bonded pair RDF versus angle, revealing the structural characteristics of the ionic solvation and the intermolecular interactions within ions. Further, we determined the instantaneous vibrational stretching frequencies of the intrinsic N–H stretch probe modes by applying the time-series wavelet method. The associated ionic dynamics within the protic ionic compound were investigated by calculating the time-evolution of the fluctuating frequencies and the frequency-time correlation functions (FFCFs). The time scale related to the local structural relaxation process and the average hydrogen bond lifetime, ion cage dynamics, and mean squared displacement were investigated. The faster decay component of the FFCFs, depicting the intermolecular motion of intact hydrogen bonds in TMACl, is 0.07 ps for the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE)-based simulation and 0.06 ps for the PBE-D2 representation. The slower time scale of the longer picosecond decay time component of PBE and PBE-D2 representations are 3.13 and 2.87 ps, respectively. These picosecond time scales represent more significant fluctuations of the hydrogen-bonding partners in the ionic entity and hydrogen-bond jump events accompanied by large angular jumps. The longest picosecond time scales represent structural relaxation, including large angular jumps and ion-pair dynamics. Also, ion cage lifetimes correlate with the slowest time scale of the associated dynamics of vibrational spectral diffusion despite the type of DFT functional. This study benchmarks DFT treatments of the exchange-correlation functional with and without the van der Waals (vdW) dispersion correction scheme. The inclusion of vdW interactions to the PBE functional represents a less structured state of the ionic entity and faster dynamics of the molecular motions relative to the one predicted by the PBE system. All the results illustrate the necessity of accurately describing the Coulomb interactions, vdW dispersive interactive forces, and localized hydrogen bonds required to sustain the energetic balance in this ionic salt.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ionic Dynamics and Vibrational Spectral Diffusion of a Protic Alkylammonium Ionic Salt through Intrinsic Cationic N–H Vibrational Probe from FPMD Simulations

2022

J. Phys. Chem. A

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“…The application of this method can be found in earlier literature − employing first-principle molecular dynamics simulations. Our recent reports also present a detailed discussion on the WTCT method employing classical molecular dynamics simulations. − …”

Section: Computational Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to the main spectral peak, we find a shoulder within the frequency range 2500−2600 cm −1 centered at 2509 cm −1 , attributed to the water-associated water deuteroxyls observed in the bulk water spectrum. 96,97,102,103 Herein, the peak positions of maximum intensity, the width of the spectral lineshape, and the nature of the vibrational stretch spectral signature remain unaffected with the elongation of chain length of alkyl substituents attached to the imidazolium ring. Thus, the observed differences in the frequency distribution are due to the differences encountered in the ionic solutions due to the various IL cations.…”

Section: Structural Interactions Within the Ionic Liquid Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microheterogeneity-Induced Vibrational Spectral Dynamics of Aqueous 1-Alkyl-3-methylimidazolium Tetrafluoroborate Ionic Liquids of Different Cationic Chain Lengths

2022

J. Phys. Chem. B

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We have monitored the impacts of an increment in the alkyl chain length of the imidazolium-based tetrafluoroborate ionic liquids on the local deuteroxyl probe modes of interest. For this study, we have taken 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate [EMIm][BF4], 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate [BMIm][BF4], 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate [OMIm][BF4], and 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate [DMIm][BF4] ionic liquid solutions with 5% HOD in H2O as the vibrational reporter of the associated ultrafast system dynamics. Classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were employed to determine molecular structure and dynamic properties, while the spectral profiles were derived by applying the wavelet analysis of classical trajectories. Spatial distribution functions reveal the heterogeneity within the molecular structures of the ionic liquids (ILs) with varying alkyl chain lengths. The intense position of the spectral peak, the frequency corresponding to the shoulder peak, and the spectral linewidth of the O–D stretch distribution are not influenced by the increment in the cationic chain length. In addition, the ionic liquid (IL) [BMIm][BF4] exhibits a notable trend; the dynamic timescales are longer than the other studied systems. Therefore, we have performed the Voronoi decomposition analysis of the ionic and the polar–apolar domains, symmetrically increasing the length of alkyl chains on the IL cations. Domain analysis reveals structural microheterogeneity; the anions form discrete domains, and the ionic liquid constituting cations form continuous domains irrespective of the alkyl chain length on the imidazolium cations. Therefore, this computational ultrafast spectroscopy study aids in forming a molecular-level picture of the ionic liquid cations and anions in the liquid phase, providing a detailed interpretation of the spectral properties of the probe stretching vibrations.

“…Moreover, a detailed discussion of the wavelet method is available in the previous reports. 60,75,76,78,79…”

Section: Simulation Detailsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We employed the wavelet transform of classical trajectories (WTCT) − for deriving the instantaneous vibrational stretching frequencies of the specific C–N mode of thiocyanate from distance fluctuations of the corresponding bond and momentum along the bond vector. The time-series wavelet analysis was applied to tag a particular vibrational mode of interest in the complicated ionic framework.…”

Section: Simulation Detailsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular Simulation-Guided Spectroscopy of Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids and Effects of Methylation on Ion-Cage and -Pair Dynamics

2022

J. Phys. Chem. B

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Classical molecular dynamics simulations were performed to assess an atomistic interpretation of the ion-probe structural interactions in two typical ionic liquids (ILs), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [BMIm][NTf2] and 1-butyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [BDimIm][NTf2] through computational ultrafast spectroscopy. The nitrile stretching vibrations of the thiocyanate anion, [SCN]−, serve as the local mode of the ultrafast system dynamics within the imidazolium-based ionic liquid environment. The wavelet transform of classical trajectories determines the time-varying fluctuating frequencies and the stretch spectral signatures of SCN– in the normalized distribution. However, computational modeling of the two-dimensional (2D) spectra from the wavelet-derived vibrational frequencies yields time evolution of the local molecular structure along with the varied time-dependent dynamics of the spectral diffusion process. We calculated the frequency–frequency correlation functions (FFCFs), time correlations associated with the ion-pair and -cage dynamics, and mean square displacements as a function of time, depicting diffusive dynamics. The calculated results based on the pair correlation functions and the distribution of atomic density suggest that the hydrogen and methylated carbon at the two-position of the imidazolium ring of [BMIm] and [BDimIm] cations, respectively, strongly interact with the probe through the N of the thiocyanate anion rather than the S atom. The center-of-mass center-of-mass (COM–COM) cation–probe radial distribution functions (RDFs) in conjunction with the site-specific structural analysis further reveal well-structured interactions of the thiocyanate ion and [BMIm]+ cation rather than the [BDimIm] cation. In contrast, the anion–probe COM–COM RDFs depict weak interactive associations within the vibrational probe [SCN]− and [NTf2]− ions. Methylation at the two-position of the imidazolium ring predicts slower structural reorganization and breaking and reformation dynamics of the ion pairs and cages within the ionic liquid framework.